Here’s How to Get Your Feet Sandal-Ready, According to a Pedicurist
One day, we’ll show off fits in real life again, even if it takes a little re-learning along the way. The Highsnobiety Summer Style Guide is here to help, ensuring that lightweight pieces still result in heavyweight looks.
“Sails out, nails out, bro,” so says Succession’s Kendall Roy of proper summer yacht attire. You may not be spending your summer on your family’s boat, but it is still the season to free your feet of heavy boots and socks and break out the sandals (or boat shoes). Which means it’s also time to get those feet in order.
For men who may have avoided this ritual in previous years, let's set one thing straight — pedicures are for men, too. Who wouldn't want to have silky smooth feet and clean nails? What's more, your toes’ appearance is far more than just a superficial concern: attractive toes are also a sign of good foot health.
“Right now, when the summer comes it’s usually more athlete's foot, and cracked heels, that I see the most. So they worry more about the softness and the texture of the skin, and some of the nails get thicker over the winter because they don't trim it often,” says Marcela Correa, licensed medical pedicurist and owner of MediPedi NYC, of the issues she usually sees in her facility come open-toe shoe season.
If your feet are in especially dire shape, you may want to recruit the help of a professional like Correa or your local mani-pedi salon, but there are also plenty of simple steps you can do from home to get your feet looking and feeling healthy.
To help you prep your feet for summer, we asked Correa for her best foot care tips to give yourself a full pedicure at home, from healing cracked heels to treating ingrown toenails. Whether you're part of the mule wave or just want to embrace open-toe footwear this season, we've got you covered.
Browse the best pedicure tips (for men, too) below
Skin
Tempting as it may be to use your trusted body lotion on your dry heels and feet, the foot on your skin is in fact different from the rest of your body, and therefore needs a different type of moisturizer. “Body lotion is made for the skin that has pores and follicles. The palm of the hands and the bottom of the foot do not have follicles, so the product doesn't penetrate the skin,” Correa explains. The wrong product can then block the glands, which will then oversweat in compensation, potentially leading to a host of problems. “Your feet are dry, your feet are healthy,” she says.
The key ingredient to a good foot cream, Correa says, is urea, an organic compound which rehydrates the skin. There are many brands of foot cream on the market, but for quick relief for especially dry or rough skin, try Eucerin’s Urea Repair Plus Cream. Made with 10 percent urea along with ceramides to prevent moisture loss, the cream helps lock in moisture and soften skin.
Also key to keeping feet soft and healthy is a regular foot filing -- but don’t pull out that pumice stone, Correa cautions, as the porous material is a breeding ground for bacteria. Instead, use a filer with removable sheets, like the Cuccio Metal File. The stainless steel file is easily sanitized with an ergonomic grip and removable, water-resistant sheets.
Correa recommends filing areas of rough skin once a week after showering, on towel-dried and moisturized feet. “Never file on wet, and never file on dry. It has to be, dry the skin and then moisturize. Like you would do for the face, the same way you want to treat your feet,” she says.
If you have especially cracked heels, be sure to file in the direction of the crack, not against it, Correa advises, which will prevent the skin from closing. As far as calluses, you can file down the rough patches until you reach the part of the callus that is elastic, but wholly removing calluses can do more harm than good. “Never remove the whole callus. Calluses are built because you need it,” she notes. “It’s to balance the way you walk, the callus builds in the area to balance the position of your body.”
Oh, and those popular foot molting Baby Foot products? Use at your own risk. If you have had good experience with them, go ahead, but many use such products to treat symptoms of what might be a more serious underlying issue. “For some people who have athlete's foot, it looks like a callus. And if you put that on an athlete’s foot, it's gonna get angry. It's gonna burn, it's gonna really mess the pH on the skin,” she says. “So I don't feel comfortable recommending this product because we don't know what we’re treating.”
For extra, safe relief, Correa recommends a soak with Johnson’s Foot Soap. The cheap, reliable, and appropriately named powder will provide relief to calluses, cracked heels and more with just a 20-minute soak.
Nails
Consider your nails a window into what’s going on with your feet. Thick nails for example may be a sign something is going on down there, like athlete’s foot, which needs proper attention. “It's a sign that the body's telling you ‘Hey, something was going on,’” she says.
If you have thicker nails, it’s likely a sign too much moisture is getting under the nails. Correa advises to treat the nail by keeping it dry and soothing the feet with an epsom salt soak once a month or so. And if you’re struggling with ingrown toenails? The answer is once again an epsom salt soak.
Fortunately you can get a large bag of epsom salt at just about any drugstore from a variety of brands, like Dr Teal's Pure Epsom Bath Salt, which is also available in a variety of scents like eucalyptus and lavender for an added aromatherapy bonus.
For trimming your toenails to a healthy shape, put away the flimsy nail clippers and use a pair of heavy-duty nippers (yes, they’re called nippers). Correa advises trimming straight across, and taking just a small bit off at the corners. “If you try to use a clipper, it’s very small,” she says. “So a lot of times, people end up cutting the wrong angle of the nail because the clipper is not big enough.”
Tempting though it may be, when cleaning up your nails, don’t cut those cuticles, which provide an important protective barrier to the nails should you stub a toe, Correa says. “If they cut a cuticle, they lose their nails, they keep the cuticle, they bruise the nail,” she says. To keep them healthy and neat, when the skin is soft and moisturized after a shower, you can push your cuticles back and massage with oil. You can invest in a fancy cuticle oil, but something simple like olive or jojoba oil will also do the trick.
Now your feet are primed, it’s time for polish. Correa recommends Dr.’s Remedy Enriched Nail Polish for an at-home pedicure. Formulated with antifungal ingredients like tea tree oil, the polish comes in a range of neutrals, brights and pastels.
The brand’s Acetone-Free Enriched Nail Polish Remover will also keep your nails healthy with vitamins C and E. And if you still have residue from the polish, Correa says you can simply pull out your toothpaste, leave it on the nails for two minutes and remove with oil for a clean, polished finish.
But whether you paint your toenails or not, Correa advises it’s important to leave them unpainted in between pedicures to check your nails are growing in healthily.
Shoes
Now your feet are feeling and looking healthy, they’re ready to go out into the world, perhaps in those new sandals for the season. But if you’re the kind of person for whom new shoes often equals blisters, take a preventative measure by covering your feet in a thin layer of powder first. “Blisters are from overheating and friction. So, when you have the powder, it prevents [the blisters] from happening,” she says. Any foot powder from your local pharmacy will do, Correa says. But for a reliable favorite, try Gold Bond Foot Powder. Just a thin layer will combat moisture and absorb odor.
To treat blisters that have already formed, take out a trusted kitchen staple: white vinegar. “I recommend to use two spoons of white vinegar in a gallon of water. And the water has to be warm, so that way we balance the pH on the skin and the blister dries out faster,” Correa says. And equally important: “Don’t pop the blisters.”
But whether you’re wearing new shoes or a trusted pair, do your feet a favor and keep them clean. “I would say clean shoes, healthy feet,” Correa says. Be sure to wear clean socks, keep your shoes dry, and if you need extra help, try an alcohol spray ( or some of your leftover hand santizer), or go for broke with a UV shoe sterilizer.
Take care to look after more than just the outside of your feet, too. Correa’s salon offers reflexology treatments for tired feet, but you can easily relax sore muscles at home without any special equipment. Rolling feet over a tennis ball will more than do the trick, she says, or for extra soothing, freeze a water bottle and roll your foot over it back and forth, which will help relax the plantar fascia, the tissue that connects your heels to the toes. “That's the best way to relax after a long walk. If you do that, 10 minutes later you can start walking again,” she says.
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